Category Archives: Songwriting

Articles about songwriting

The RPM Challenge 2012

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I’ve just signed up for yet another songwriting challenge called the RPM Challenge. This time you write and record an album (defined as a minimum of 10 songs) during the month of February.

I know some people that for some reason find these concepts as anti-inspirational but personally, I use these songwriting challenges as a great way to just immerse myself into the spirit of unbridled creativity.

It’s a great way to stand up to your inner critic and besides, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with writing songs just for the sake of writing them.

If you’re interested in checking out some more info regarding the RPM Challenge, just go to www.rpmchallenge.com, have a look for yourself and perhaps sign up and have a go. What have you got to lose?

I know I will be tackling it and I’ll keep you all posted with my progress.

Peace,

Corey :)

Getting Ready For FAWM 2012

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“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” — Jack London

Man, we’re at the end of January already… Where did it go?

I don’t know where it went but I do know that the beginning of February is also the beginning of FAWM which stands for February Album Writing Month.

I’ll cleaning up my creative space, contacting all of my collaborators and sharpening my pencil for this one.

I know I’ve mentioned FAWM (and my lack of success in it) before in the past but for those of you that don’t know FAWM is a songwriting event that challenges the participant to write 14 songs in the 28 days of February.

However, seeing that 2012 is a leap year the challenge is now to write 14.5 songs in 29 days. The other 0.5 being an extra collaboration with someone new.

Here is some more information about FAWM taken from www.fawm.org

“The FAWM challenge is simple: 14½ songs in 29 days. Why?

If it is inspiration you are after, then FAWM is your club. Each February, this website forges a collaborative community of thousands of musicians worldwide, from all walks and skill levels.

We take on the challenge of writing an album’s worth of new music in the shortest month of the year.”

Interested? Then go to www.fawm.org and join up, immerse yourself into the community and enjoy the ride.

I know I will.

Peace,

Corey :)

The Joy Of Learning New Songs

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For my first official day back from the Xmas/New Year break I spent the good part of yesterday compiling a list of covers that I wanted to learn and integrate into my Corey Stewart Solo and FIGJAM Duo/Band song-lists for 2012.

I figured that the time between now and my first gig on January 18th will be best spent sorting out my covers. This has been something that I’ve been trying to do for ages but had never found the time to do.

After a few years of making changes to my covers repertoire in a sporadic and haphazard manner, I thought it was time to put some process into place because at the end of the day, I love learning new songs and I wanted to add new material on a more purposeful and consistent basis.

I love learning new songs because it expands my musical palette and forces me to experience new songs and genres that I’m not used to.

It also enables me to sharpen up my listening skills, hone my music and guitar chord theory knowledge plus it gives me a reason (as if I really needed one in the first place) to pick up my acoustic guitar and just play it.

Most importantly however, the reason why I love learning new songs is that by mucking around with covers, I actually come up with new songwriting ideas of my own.

This happened on four occasions yesterday and these were immediately recorded onto the iPhone for future reference.

It’s amazing what happens when you just go off on a bit of a tangent in the middle of learning something. Songwriting ideas can come from anywhere…

Even from other songs.

Peace,

Corey :)

Gig Alert: SCALA Songwriters Showcase – July 28th, 2011

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Today I’m preparing for my first originals gig in a couple of months.

It’s a gig I organise for SCALA (Songwriters, Composers and Lyricists Association) showcasing songwriters who perform through my Open Mic Network and it happens tonight. It’s a great way to keep my songwriting chops up to speed.

As a musician who makes a living playing other peoples music, playing my own music is a real breath of fresh air for me. Even though I always put my own individual spin on the covers that I play, the greatest artistic satisfaction I get as a musician is through performing my own songs in front of a crowd that want to be there.

If you’re in the area the gig is at the Higher Ground Arts Cafe located at Light Square in Adelaide and the night kicks off between 8pm and 8:30pm finishing at around 11pm.

I’ll be sharing the stage with 3 other talented songwriters Bryan Foley, Martin Mount and Steven Fotineas with entry being $5 waged, $4 concession and $3 for SCALA members.

It’s going to be a great night so wish me luck.

Peace,

Corey :)

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The Second Time Around – Song Video

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As promised here is the video presentation used at the CD launch of “The Second Time Around” a song written by myself, Heather Frahn and members of the Community Re-Entry Program at Flinders University as outlined in a previous post.

Here it is for you to enjoy.

Here is some more information about the Musical Brainwaves project from the YouTube page…

Musical Brainwaves was a group song-writing project with members from the Community Re-Entry Program at Flinders University in 2011. Collaborating with songwriters Heather Frahn and Corey Stewart the members contributed their own song lyrics, voices and artwork expressing positive viewpoints about their lives.

The creation of the song “The Second Time Around” brought much celebration of the things that inspire life and wellbeing.

CRP Members: Ben Howell, Cherrie Almond, Ron Brooks, Bernadette Circtzki, Joelene Schmerl, Adam Houston, Ralph Kloss, Zeke Langsford, Peter Coulter, Gary Irons, John Weston, Peter Guidera, Joanne King, Andrew King, Jayne Linke, Darryl Thompson, Cele Richardson, Meg Bartel, Luna Aboulhosn, Janma Gazmere, Jasmine Grace, Matthew Thomas, Karina Wight, Margaret Ellis, Christiana Wu, Louisa Schettini 

Musical Brain Waves was facilitated by Corey Stewart and Heather Frahn, with visual art assistance from Jasmine Grace. Recording and Music Production by Corey Stewart and Heather Frahn © 2011.

With thanks to Charmaine Mahar, Jaime Gardner and Roger Rees for their support for this project.

Let me know what you think.

Peace,

Corey :)

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Musical Brainwaves – The Finished Song

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In previous posts “My Involvement With Musical Brainwaves” and “Musical Brainwaves – Using The Home Recording Studio” you would’ve read about my involvement in this 6 week Songwriting Project held in conjunction with Flinder University and its Community Re-entry Program.

Well, last Friday was the CD launch party of the song “The Second Time Around” written by Heather Frahn, members of the Community Re-Entry Program and myself.

Held at Flinders Uni, it was a very simple affair with about 50 people ranging from members of the project, their carers and Flinders Uni staff and students in attendance.

After an introduction from the Co-ordinator of the Community Re-entry Program it was our turn to give an outline of what we had been doing for the last 6 weeks (well Heather did most of the talking).

Once we finished Heather put on a video collage she made out of all the photos and images taken during the project with the finished song as its soundtrack. Well, there was not a dry eye in the room, it was very powerful stuff. it went down so well Heather was asked to run the video again.

The launch was a great success.

Heather and I during one of our recording sessions

While I was watching the video I was feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and cold shivers running down my spine. This hardly ever happens to me at all but last Friday I was deeply touched, moved and inspired by the event.

I realised that over the past 6 weeks I was provided with proof that music can still matter and that it can still make a profound difference in people’s lives.

I was immensely proud of what we had all achieved with the writing of the song and especially how the finished product sounds as it was totally recorded at home.

Here is the finished product for you to enjoy.

The Second Time Around

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Once I get hold of Heather’s video montage of the song I’ll post it up here.

You have to see it to believe it.

Peace,

Corey :)

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Creating Ambient Music

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Relaxation music, meditation music, ambient music…

Call it whatever you like, I’ve always wanted to create, record and perform this type of music ever since my ears heard Brian Eno’s “Music For Airports” and “Music For Films”.

For a start I love Brian Eno and anything he touches however, I was always entranced by his notion that music could be created specifically for the background but, it was artistic at the same time.

A muzak free zone of beautifully blended ambience in which you can say goodbye to the Kenny G inspired Soprano Sax melodies.

I recently completed a project for Pam Mitchell, recording and doing the graphics for a series of five Guided Meditation CD’s. It was a lot of fun and it gave me the opportunity to really muck around in my home recording studio composing some ambient music of my own starting from scratch.

I also did all of the CD artwork as well which turned out pretty well if I say so myself.

Below are some music samples. It’s not Brian Eno, but it’s a start…

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Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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You can find more information about these guided meditation CD’s at Pam Mitchell’s website – www.relaxationforhealthandwellbeing.com

Watch this space, more is coming…

Peace,

Corey :)

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Musical Brainwaves – Using The Home Recording Studio

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In an earlier post I mentioned that I was involved with a community songwriting project called “Musical Brainwaves” with good friend and award winning singer/songwriter Heather Frahn.

Well, today and tomorrow, Heather and I will be completing the recording of the song “The Second Time Around” for the project. This will be the first time that my home studio will be used to record something that will be formally released to the general public (albeit a limited release of about 50 copies).

Heather has brought over her mobile recording booth (which I’ll be purchasing for myself later on down the track) to ensure that we get the clearest recordings possible.

I’m really excited about this because it marks another milestone in my learning the craft of recording audio at home however, if I was asked a few years ago whether I would be excited about recording something myself I would’ve said a resounding NO as my answer.

There was a time where I was really afraid of the recording process and always thought that recording music in a studio was something “other people did.”

I have tried a few times over the years to put together a home recording studio but I never used it through the fear of not recording something good.

How silly is that? Me being scared of a medium that if something is not right I could always delete and start again.

Anyway, yesterday I tidied up all of the audio tracks that Heather and I recorded at Flinders Uni over the last three weeks (some choral work in the chorus and some spoken word bits in the bridge) ready for the final instrumental overdubs.

Control Room

Keys & Headphones

Heather’s Portable Vocal Booth

Today is when the real fun begins…

Peace,

Corey :)

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My Involvement With “Musical Brainwaves”

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I wanted to let you know about a project that I’ve just become involved on with my very good friend and award winning singer/songwriter Heather Frahn. It’s called Musical Brainwaves and it’s a group songwriting project with members of the Community Re-Entry Program (all who have acquired brain injuries) held at Flinders University over a period of six Fridays between May 6th and June 3rd.

Over a period of six weeks Heather and myself will conduct a series of five creative sessions with the participants of the program in which the end result will be:

  • A song written by Heather and myself based on contributions from the programs participants
  • A professional recording of the song
  • A CD of the recording with an accompanying 6 page booklet including photos and artwork made by the programs participants
  • 50-100 copies of the CD distributed among participants, carers and community networks
  • A CD launch (of sorts) for participants, carers, community networks and interested parties

It’s hoped that the finished product can be used as a promotional and educational tool for the Community Re-Entry Program and its members on the Internet, in CD Format and on Radio

The (as yet untitled) song that Heather and I will be working on will have the duel themes of “expressing positive viewpoints about (your) life” and “celebrating what inspires and motivates (you).”

For me, working in the community music and arts field with Heather is an exciting development in my professional music career. It adds another string to my bow and it’s an invaluable opportunity to experience new ways of collaborating on and creating new music.

It’s also such a rewarding experience to be working in the company of such amazing and inspirational people. Both Heather and I started the project last Friday and can’t wait to get into it again this coming Friday and every Friday until June 3rd.

I’m constantly amazed at where the music takes me.

Peace,

Corey :)

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Expanding My Online Presence Using Posterous

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Now I am a self confessed WordPress fanboy and have been for many years but for a little while now I’ve had my eye on another blogging platform to expand my online presence with.

It’s called Posterous.

My understanding of Posterous is that it was developed to allow people to post online via email but it also has an online interface that can be used as well however, the main feature that really got me interested in exploring it more was its AutoPost function.

The AutoPost function allows what I post on my Posterous blog to appear automatically on other blogging platforms and social networking sites that I subscribe to. Once I publish a post, it will be automatically updated on the following sites:

This excited me because this system allows me to post items of interest and relevance on Songwriting, Music Business and Home Recording that I find on the web and have that information appear at multiple points online while at the same time, these multiple points all link into this site.

Essentially, I expand my online presence without too much effort while creating incoming links to Corey Stewart Online (good for SEO) plus, interesting and relevant information is being circulated to those who want to read it.

The secondary reason for doing this is that through posting the relevant news of the day based on my topics of interest plus the wide ranging ideas of others I will become more inspired myself and therefore my own blogging/songwriting activity will increase.

Everybody wins!

This is of course an experiment that I’ll be monitoring very closely. I want to find out if I get an increase in traffic numbers, email subscription numbers and Google juice but I’ll make sure I keep you all up to date with the ongoing results.

Peace,

Corey :)

PS: The first post on Posterous can be found HERE

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